Banksy artwork stolen less than an hour after unveiling in south London

A couple of guys were caught on camera stealing a Banksy piece of art from a street in the southern part of London. This happened soon after it was verified that the installation was a real one.

The creator acknowledged that he made the artwork. The artwork consists of a traffic signal that is covered with three objects that resemble army drones. This acknowledgement was made in a post on social media at around midday on Friday.

On social media, a video was posted showing two men removing a sign located at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham. This occurred at approximately 12:30pm with bystanders observing the event.

In the video, some individuals can be heard exclaiming "oh my god" in the background while one of the men grabs the stop sign and swiftly flees the scene. Someone else, a woman to be precise, expresses her irritation by saying "this really annoys me."

It is believed that Banksy was not responsible for the removal.

Some pictures were posted on the artist's Instagram page with no description or clarification, verifying its legitimacy.

Selling a Banksy that has been stolen can be quite challenging because the artist is widely recognized and respected. In France, three individuals who were in their 30s were put in jail last year for committing theft and for being in possession of a Banksy piece that paid tribute to the unfortunate victims of the tragic 2015 incident that occurred in the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

Half a year afterwards, in a distinct occurrence, Ukrainian officials revealed that eight individuals were taken into custody for purloining a mural created by the enigmatic graffiti artist from a boundary wall adjacent to Kyiv.

Banksy's Pest Control team, responsible for verifying the authenticity of artworks, will provide certificates of authenticity to pieces that have not been illegally obtained or taken into private possession without permission.

Last year, a guy who removed a Banksy artwork from a pedestal in downtown London reached out to law enforcement officers because it was stolen from him. Later, it appeared at the auction firm Sotheby's.

The information provided for The Drinker auction implied that the artwork was somehow obtained in a suspicious manner, indicating that Banksy or someone associated with him may have been involved. Following discussions with the authorities, Sotherby's confirmed that they were confident the seller had the legal authority to sell the piece.

The plane that was parked looked similar to the ones in Banksy's artwork called Civilian Drone Strike, which showed three drones bombing a simple drawing of a house. This piece of art was sold for £205,000 at an event called Art The Arms Fair and the funds went to organizations called Reprieve and Campaign Against Arms Trade.

This year, Banksy has put up some other works, such as Valentine's Day Makeup, which is a painting that is very heavy, weighing almost four tonnes, and was found on a house in Margate, Kent, on Valentine's Day. In the painting, there was a lady from the 1950s who had a big eye and was missing a tooth. She was wearing an apron and yellow gloves to wash dishes. She was shown throwing a man into a freezer that looked like a chest.

During the month of September, the sculpture was placed in the entrance area of the Art of Banksy exhibition, which is located in the heart of London on Regent Street. The best part? You can enjoy a viewing of the statue without any cost.